Pride is something we all struggle with. At its core, pride is an attempt to fill an internal void. We are all born with a sense of emptiness. As we become self-aware, we begin to notice the differences between ourselves and others—our strengths, our weaknesses, our smallness, and our vulnerabilities. Realizing our "nakedness," we quickly seek to cover it with the garment of pride, comparing ourselves to others to determine if we are "better" or "worse."
We internally ask: How can I be better than the next person? How can I exalt myself? Pride is rooted in competition. It manifests in several ways:
Striving to be the most beautiful.
Accumulating the most money.
Being the most intelligent.
Dressing in the most expensive way.
Believing you do not need anyone else.
Pride is about promoting the self to fill a void at the expense of others. We feel a temporary "high" when others notice our covering—like someone saying, "You look great in that suit!" However, pride leaves us devastated when our covering is ignored or, worse, mocked. While pride seeks self-exaltation, its glory depends entirely on the approval of others. This makes us slaves.
Pride is a curse because it focuses solely on the external while the internal self is neglected. It prioritizes how the world sees us over how God sees us. Pride will make you:
Take a job you hate just for the prestigious title.
Enter a relationship just so society sees you are "married."
Start a fight just to avoid being called a coward.
Cheapen yourself just to be thought of as "sexy."
Work three jobs to pay for a house you have no time to sleep in.
It was pride that caused Lucifer to continue in sin even when he knew he was wrong. He was afraid to admit his faults and confess them to God. Pride destroyed his relationship with the Creator, cast him out of heaven, and forced him to continue a losing battle just to "save face."
Pride destroys love because love requires vulnerability. Pride makes us "frauds"; we don't let people get close for fear they will discover we aren't who we proclaim to be. But if we don't allow others to get close, they can never truly love us. They only love the mask, not the person. Consequently, the proud person feels unloved, unknown, and lonely.
Pride is a curse because it turns us into "night creatures," hiding from the light of truth. It creates mental trauma because we are constantly presenting a version of ourselves that does not exist. It makes it hard to love others because the proud person sees people as tools to satisfy their own emptiness, rather than as souls to cherish.
Pride leads to financial debt, miserable marriages, and a refusal to turn back from wrong paths. We are all proud, but the hold of pride begins to loosen when we expose our emptiness to God in prayer. We must be honest: "Lord, I feel worthless. I try to cover my feelings by being better or richer than others, but I am still empty. Inwardly, I have nothing of true worth to offer."
Then, the Lord can fill us with things of true value—things better than money or beauty:
Love: To love and be loved for who you truly are.
Patience: With yourself and others.
Joy: That exists regardless of circumstances.
Humility: The ability to value others truly.
Gentleness: A soft heart toward the world.
Integrity: Being true to who you are.
Pride leads to slavery, but the key to freedom is to humble ourselves before God. Acknowledge your nothingness and ask Him to fill your empty soul with His Holy Spirit.
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